Car manufacturer deafens employees

An employer who exposed his workers to excessive noise levels was ordered to pay £108,000 after one worker suffered tinnitus.

Matthew had worked for a car manufacturer most of his working life. The environment he worked in was very noisy from all the machinery and factory activities.

It was 30 years later that Matthew began to notice that he was struggling to hear people on the telephone and would often have to ask people to repeat themselves. He also developed a constant ringing in his ears.

After visiting his GP Matthew was diagnosed with tinnitus, and noise induced hearing loss. His personality began to change. He became short tempered and very distracted. He no longer enjoyed his hobbies and found dealing the tinnitus very difficult.

Matthew was dismissed from his job and subsequently found it difficult to seek other employment. He eventually took a cleaning job which he found frustrating as he was unable to support his family as he did before.

When he approached Bond Pearce's Industrial disease team he was very depressed. The team carried out detailed investigations. A medical report found that Matthew was suffering from a psychological reaction to his diagnosis known as dysthymic disorder.

The team recognised that Matthew would find it difficult to seek similarly paid employment in the future and that this was something that he found it hard to deal with. We were able to secure compensation for Matthew in the sum of £108,000.

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If you would like to seek expert legal advice relating to this case study or any other injury claim please complete the online enquiry form or call 0800 915 4650